Trapped
by dizzypanda
Summary: An accident leaves one of the former ducklings in danger - a Cameron/House/Chase triangle - be kind, it's my first story!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a baking hot summers day and House was stuck in traffic. He had decided to give his car a run out today as his leg was feeling particularly painful. It was only 10:30am and he'd already downed 4 vicodin. Now he was stuck in 90-degree heat going nowhere fast.

He tuned in the radio to try and catch the traffic update but all he got was Justin Timberlake blasting out at him. "Youth of today - no respect for music" he thought to himself "There are only 7 little notes and they still manage to put them in the wrong order". He quickly turned the radio back off and sat there wishing he had brought the bike to work that day.

Just then he started to hear sirens in the distance - lots of sirens. He assumed that there was some sort of accident up ahead hence the traffic. "Great - now I'm gonna have to pretend I'm not the world's greatest Doctor".

_One hour earlier and 3 blocks from House's traffic jam ……_

"I'm telling ya - this thing isn't safe." Sam had complained to his site manager about the scaffolding on the site for days. He was working on an old factory warehouse more or less in the centre of Princeton. The warehouse was destined to become swanky apartments for the up and coming young executives of the city - just the type of people who looked down on people like Sam.

Years ago Sam had dreamed about becoming one of those city types - he had fancied a career in law or in medicine or some other "respectable" profession. However getting his childhood sweetheart pregnant at the age of 17 had put all those ideas to bed. Sam had done the right thing - stuck by his girl, got married and supported her and their baby girl.

That was 10 years ago and Sam was now 29, his wife, Abby, was 27 and their not so little girl, Jess, was now 10. Sam and Abby had stayed together despite both of their families dooming their relationship from the very start.

Every now and again Sam could hear his father's words ringing in his head "You've got to get rid of it son - this is the biggest mistake of your short life. Are you even sure it's yours? I've heard lots of things said about that Abby ….." That was as far as Sam's father had gotten before Sam had knocked him to the floor. Sam never set foot in his father's house again after that day - his father had died 2 years later without ever meeting his granddaughter and without ever speaking to his only son ever again.

It had been the same with Abby's parents. They had been supportive enough in the beginning, even allowing Sam to move into their small 2-bedroom apartment to live with Abby. Then Jess had arrived and suddenly the apartment seemed even smaller. After one too many sleepless nights Abby's parents had thrown them out into the street and they were left to fend for themselves.

Sam had supported his little family from that day on. He had never pulled a huge wage but he was able to put food on the table and put a roof over their heads. They never really went without but they were more than sensible with money.

Sam had more or less fallen into the building trade. He turned up at a site one day without so much as a hard hat and got a job as an apprentice. Over the years he had built up his expertise and was now a rather good site foreman. He was fair to the staff he looked after and still pulled his weight. His crew had a healthy respect for the man who would join in with the hard work, keep everyone in line and still come out for a quick beer after the shift had finished.

The current job had been ongoing for 3 months now, had been plagued with problems and was massively behind schedule. The contractors were losing money hand over fist and something had to be done about it. That was where cost cutting began. Sam had noticed things weren't quite finished to the standard he was used to and the materials being used where chosen from the cheaper end of the market.

Sam's main concern at the moment was the scaffold that surrounded the outside of the building. A couple of his crew had mentioned their concerns about its safety and Sam had echoed this to his superior.

"Look Sam" his boss had said "the scaffold was put up by a professional firm who have done this type of thing a hundred times before. I just need you and your men to get on with the job - I don't need to remind you that we're behind schedule. Your men's jobs are on the line here. Either the owners start to see some progress with this job or they are gonna pull the plug real soon".

Many of the men at the site were in the same boat as Sam - families at home to support and little money coming in.

"OK, OK" Sam sighed "You can count on the lads to get things moving. I'm just saying I'm not happy about some things that I've seen lately. That scaffold is the most worrying thing. And we took delivery of the paint this morning - I have no idea where you got it from but I haven't seen anything like it in my life."

The paint had arrived that morning and was currently being stored below the scaffold. The delivery truck had turned up with one guy in it. The truck itself was unmarked and the delivery guy wore no uniform. Sam had had to pull some of his men to unload the paint - something that wasn't in the their job description. When Sam asked for the paperwork to accompany the paint there was none. "Another cost saving measure" Sam had thought to himself.

"Look, just get on with your job and leave me to worry about this stuff" and with that the site manger was gone, rubbing his hands over his face as he went.

Sam went back to the scaffold and started to climb. They were finishing off the renovations to the outside of the building - filling in the cracks, tidying up and replacing the windows. The shift had started at 7:30am and it was now 9:30am. So annoyed with the site mangers attitude, Sam decided to give his crew a quick 10-minute break.

"Come on guys, it's hotter than hell up here - lets grab a drink" Sam yelled up and down the scaffold which reached up to the 6th floor of the building. The 30-man crew started to make its way down the scaffold. Sam stayed at the back to make sure everyone came down.

Nearly everyone was at the bottom of the scaffold when it started to sway. At first Sam thought he was having some sort of vertigo attack, the world was literally swaying, but then he heard someone shout, "Come on - get down!!"

Panic threatened to take over his crew as the scaffold started to creak then groan. The swaying turned more violent and the whole rig seemed to lean to the right - heading straight for the street below.

For Sam everything went into slow motion. He remembered looking over the side to see how many of his men had made it to the bottom. He was relieved to see that most of them were down on the ground and were starting to run away from the building. One of his more senior workers had made it to the street and was directing people away from the building.

Sam knew what was going to happen next and all he could think of was Abby and Jess. He also thought of the families of the 6 or 7 men he still had on the rig. He had no thoughts for himself - he knew he was about to die.

_15 minutes later and quite a distance away from House's traffic jam..._

Dr Allison Cameron was starting her shift in the ER. She was the senior attending in the ER having left House's Diagnostic Department 6 months earlier.

Cameron had been surprised at how little she missed House and his gruffness. She found herself thinking back to when she had first taken her fellowship under Gregory House. Cameron had thought she was attracted to the older Doctor. She had hoped beyond all hope that he felt the same way and had even made him take her on a date before she had agreed to come back to work after the "Vogler affair" as she liked to call it.

It was after that "date" that Cameron had started to realise that House was never going to like her in the same way she liked him. No matter what she did, she just wasn't his type. "God knows what is his type," she thought to herself.

Nowadays, Cameron often cringed at the memories of her running around after House and making puppy dog eyes at him.

"Dr Cameron!" the sound of Nurse Hodges yelling her name brought Cameron back to the here and now. "Dr Cameron - you're needed for a telephone consult."

Cameron trotted to the ER's phone. "Dr Cameron" she answered, picking up the phone.

"Dr Cameron, this is Chief Jackson with the Princeton Fire Department. I'm at the old warehouse on Vine Street - we are looking at a major incident and I need some help real quick."

Cameron could tell from the tone of the Chief's voice that this was serious. She could also hear the cries of injured people in the background. "What are we looking at?" Cameron asked.

"We have had a major scaffold collapse - it's trapped a number of the building crew and the has spilt over into the street." the Chief replied "A number of passer-by's have been trapped and injured and we have three cars that have been crushed by falling debris. I would estimate having about 30 injured people and a number of persons unaccounted for under the main wreckage. I've never had this many casualties to deal with at the same time. I really need some guidance here."

Cameron could hear the tension in his voice "OK Chief - what I'm gonna do is get a team together and get down there to help out. Have you already got EMT's with you?"

"Yeah - we have about 4 crews down here but we really need a lot more. I'd be grateful if you could down here as soon as possible". The relief in the Chief's voice was clear.

"We're on our way" Cameron said and put the phone down.

_At approximately the same time that House turned Justin off………_

Cameron stepped out of the emergency 4x4 truck that PPTH had for such occasions. She had assembled a team of nurses and other Doctors from the ER to attend the accident. She had left a skeleton staff in place and told them to start expecting the first casualties. She had left instructions for all other emergencies to be re-routed to other ER's across Princeton.

As she had left PPTH she had bumped into Chase. Their relationship had grown quite serious during the summer and Cameron was glad.

"Please just be careful" Chase's Aussie accent was concerned "No heroics - I want you back here in one piece."

She had told him not to worry and that she would probably be one of the first back with the more serious casualties. Little had she known that she would actually be the last person to arrive back at the hospital that day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cameron arrived at the scene with her team and took a moment to survey the area. It looked like chaos - EMT's, Fire Department, cops and civilians all running in opposite directions.

From where she stood on the edge of the actual site, Cameron could see at lease 8 casualties. A few could be heard screaming in agony, another couple were already being attended to by EMT's, two more men were lying perfectly still and silent. A passerby might be drawn to those making the most noise but Cameron's training told her otherwise. If the patient had enough energy to make that much noise they weren't in need of immediate medical attention. Cameron knew that it was the silent ones who needed her help more urgently - it was he silent ones who were most in need or already beyond her help.

The first man she reached fell into the latter category. He was on the edge of the site and had almost escaped the carnage. He hadn't been so lucky though and had been crushed by falling debris and had a very obvious head injury. Upon quick inspection Cameron could tell this man wasn't even a construction worker - he was a passerby who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a grizzly scene and one that Cameron would most likely play over again and again in her mind later but for no there was no point spending time on the dead when there was the living to save.

The next man she reached was a construction worker. Cameron caught glimpses of his yellow jacket through the twisted wreckage of what used to be the scaffold. The difference with this guy was that he was still alive - barely. The other difference was that, as a construction worker, he had been wearing a safety helmet. Although not the sturdiest piece of equipment it had cushioned some of the blow leaving him unconscious but alive.

"Need some help here!!" Cameron shouted to her team. This seemed to jar people into action. Most of them had been stood at the edge of the chaos trying to process what was happening. For the majority of the team this was the first major incident that they had attended and for some it was almost too much to bear.

The first to react to Cameron's cry for assistance came from a young nurse called Sarah. Sarah had joined the ER 2 months earlier and had already proved her worth. She had a level head and kept cool under pressure. Even more impressive than that she had taken on House and (partially) won. House had a known disdain for nurses generally and could often be found ordering them around like nobodies and generally being obnoxious to them. Not so with Sarah - her quick tongue had proven to be some what of a match for House and the two generally kept out of each others way.

"This guy has an obvious head injury and query spinal. We need to move carefully to avoid further trauma to the spine." Cameron said "His airway seems stable for now - lets get some fluids on the go and I'll see if I can get the Fire Department to help shift some of this metal." Cameron left Sarah with the patient and started to look round for the Fire Chief.

As she searched for the Chief she re-directed her team to other patients, giving reassuring words where necessary. Unlike Sarah, some members of the team weren't coping so well. These people she set to work on the less injured patients, leaving the more confident members to treat the serious casualties. She had no time for performance reviews now but in a very Cameron-like way it was all information being stored for later use.

Cameron found the Fire Chief right at the heart of the chaos. She stood and looked around her. There was a pile of twisted scaffold that went at least two stories high. She could side splintered walk boards, tools and jagged metal everywhere. The images threatened to overwhelm her brain but she couldn't let it - she had a job to do and lives to save.

"Dr Cameron" she said as she held out her hand to the Chief. He looked at it and dismissed it "We have 4 workers unaccounted for - the site foreman and three others. We have located 2 of the workers towards the top of the wreckage, the other two are fairly deep down" the chief said matter-of-factly.

"I have another man over there who has serious head and spinal injuries - he's trapped and I need him out stat" Cameron matched the Chief's brusqueness. "I have other members of my team working on him - if you arrange some of your men to help out there, I'll help here".

The Chief looked down at the diminutive Doctor and took her in for a minute. She was undeniably beautiful but she was obviously not one to be patronised. She was a professional as much as he was and she demanded respect. The Chief looked over at the wreckage "Casey, Miller - gets your butts over here" the Chief yelled. The men dutifully complied and the Chief packed them off to help the unconscious worker.

"Now, how do I get in there?" Cameron asked pointing to the wreckage and the place where her patients were.

"What?" the Chief replied "You think I'm gonna let you in there? You must be crazy. You just tell my men what they need to do and ..."

"And what? They'll remember they studied for a medical degree over the weekend? Look, I don't tell you how to do your job, don't you tell me how to do mine. There are patients in there and I'm a Doctor. I'm going in." A determination flashed in Cameron's eyes. The Chief could tell there was going to be no persuade Allison Cameron otherwise.

"Fine, but I'm not guaranteeing your safety" Cameron rolled her eyes at the Chief's comments "My men have secured a pathway down to the trapped men at the top and they are working on a way to reach the two at the bottom. Come with me and I'll show you. Step where I step and touch nothing. This thing could go at any moment."

Cameron couldn't deny that her heart was pounding but she had a job to do. She started to climb after the Chief when she heard a familiar voice behind her ...

"You're not seriously thinking of going in there are you? You might break a nail. Plus, I'm gonna have to tell Mommy Cuddy what you're up to and she's probably gonna ground you."

Cameron turned - it was House.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"House?? What are you doing here?" Cameron asked "It's 11am - you should have been at work 2 hours ago."

"What can I say? My 'special friend' had such a great time last night I practically had to throw her out which, being cripple n' all, was quite a feat." House replied.

House studied Cameron for a moment. She stood there wearing an over sized safety helmet with visor and medical overalls which were at least 2 sizes too big for her slender frame. House thought she looked like a school kid playing dress up in her Daddy's work clothes.

"I seriously don't have time for this House. If you're here to help then help. If you're not, get out of here." With this Cameron turned to walk away, her mind focused on the task ahead, but House grabbed her by the arm. This action 12 months ago would have sent a shiver through her. Cameron had been desperate for House to see her as more than a work colleague. Now however the move only served to annoy her more.

"House!! Let me go." Cameron shrugged to get his hand off of her arm but he held firm.

"Seriously. You're not going in there" House said, his sharp blue eyes looking into hers. It was said as a statement of fact rather than a question.

Cameron pulled closer to House so as not to be overheard by the Fire Chief. "You're not my boss any more House, you lost the right to tell me what to do, remember? Now let me go before I steal your cane and embarrass you in front of all these nice firemen." Cameron's voice was full of confidence - confidence she had learnt from her time as part of House's Diagnostics Department.

When she had joined his team, Cameron had been a junior Doctor lacking in confidence. She was undeniably keen and intelligence but she struggled to balance this with the pre-conception that most people held - she was a pretty girl and therefore knew nothing. This had held her back for a time. She hadn't been able to handle patients properly - not being able to tell them bad news or force them to see that House's crazy sounding treatment was their best option. She had quickly learnt that to survive a Fellowship under House she had to toughen up and not allow herself to be walked all over. If she hadn't done this, her colleagues Chase and Foreman would have outshone her and left her behind. This was something she was determined would not happen.

House was slightly taken aback by Cameron's tone and he let her go. He didn't even realise that it was him who had taught her to be that way. "Fine." he said "If you get killed don't come running to me. I'm good but I'm not that good - death is kinda permanent". House's sarcasm was his best form of defence. But why was he being defensive? Cameron wasn't part of his team any more just as she had pointed out moments earlier, in fact she had a team of her own now.

"Just promise me you won't buy me lilies for my funeral and I'll stay in the afterlife and leave you alone. I hate lilies." Cameron replied, turned on her heel and walked away. House watched her go, leaning on his cane.

"HEY HOUSE!" a voice cried from behind him.

"Great" he thought to himself "Nurse Whiplash has finally caught up with me."

"House - get your ass over here." Sarah shouted "Make yourself useful and practice some proper medicine for a change. You might learn a thing or two."

Cameron turned briefly to watch House limp toward Sarah. She could see he was already spouting a string of verbal abuse at Sarah who appeared to be holding her own as usual. House's limp became even more pronounced as he struggled over the remains of the building site, avoiding all of the hazards which lay all around them.

Cameron scrambled to the top of the wreckage and joined the Fire Chief and his crew. "Right, what's the situation?" Cameron asked.

"My men have secured a way down to two of the trapped workers. We need advice on how best to move them without causing them further injury. If you're serious about going in there you need to take these." The Chief handed her a two way radio and a flash light. Cameron juggled it with the medical pack she carried.

"Just show me where I get in." she replied resolutely. The Chief led her to the very top of the pile where Cameron could see a makeshift tunnel that had been created in the debris. Twisted metal barred most of the way and there were shattered pieces of walk boards everywhere.

"The first guy is down to the left" one of the fireman said "To me it looks as if he has a leg injury. He's pinned down at the moment but is nearly free. Should be able to move him in the next 20 minutes or so. The other guy we can reach at the moment is further down and to the right. He's in a worse state. Obvious head trauma and he's losing a lot of blood from an arm injury. He's in and out of consciousness and probably needs your attention first although its gonna take us longer to get him free."

"OK. Lets get in there so I can see for myself." Cameron replied pulling her medical kit onto her back. The fireman looked at her in disbelief. Anticipating his next question the Chief said "Just show the good doc where to go."

To his credit, the Fireman just turned and started to make his way into the tunnel. "You'll need to leave your pack, there's no room for it down here. If you brush up against the wrong thing the whole lot is likely to come crashing down around you" he said. Cameron dropped her pack but not before grabbing the essential first aid items - bandages, sterile pads and pain relief meds.

Cameron climbed into the hole and followed the Fireman down. She was first struck by the heat. It was 30 degrees outside, in here it felt more like 40. To say it was overbearing would be an understatement. She yearned to take off the helmet but knew she couldn't.

The next thing to hit her was the smell. She couldn't tell what it was but it made her gag for a couple of minutes. It was a pungent smell, almost chemical. It made her throat hurt and her eyes tear up. There were trickles of liquid running down in several places in the wreckage.

"Is this liquid some sort of chemical? Sure smells like it is" Cameron asked as she followed the Firemen down deeper.

"No - we've had to checked over. It's just water" the Firemen replied. "There was some sort of water tank being stored at the top of the scaffold. God knows why. It came down with the rest of it. Most of it spilt over hence the moisture down here but the rest of it is still up top. The smell is coming from deeper down. From what we can gather there was a paint store at the bottom of this lot. Again, God knows why. We reckon the pots have been split and that's what we can smell. We have others trying to reach the store to double check what's actually down there."

Cameron tried to put the acrid smell out of her mind and worked on the men she found trapped in the wreckage. It was just as the fireman had said. The first man, a worker called Joe, had a nasty leg injury which was pinned by a sharp piece of metal. Cameron had guided the fireman the best she could to remove the metal but even so as soon as the metal was removed the injury started to bleed profusely. Cameron did the best she could and used her supplies as a basic tourniquet. Joe was safely removed.

Cameron reached the second worker who was a young man called Will, he was just 19 years old. He had a crush injury to the head and Cameron immediately knew there was going to be very little she could do for him. She gave him some of the pain relief meds to make him more comfortable and let the firemen get on with their job of getting him free. Will had held on until he got half way to PPTH but, unbeknown to Cameron, he crashed on the way and never recovered. Will's parents would later want to thank Cameron for her kind words and efforts to save him.

All this had taken about an hour to accomplish and Cameron hadn't even reached the two other trapped workers. The fire department had spoken to the other workers and had been told that the site foreman, Sam, and another worker by the name of John were definitely still missing. Cameron thought this information highly unreliable given the chaos that was occurring outside.

After Will had been removed she had come to the surface to get a drink and some fresh air. She automatically looked around to see if House was still there but she couldn't see him. She was proud, however, to see that her team were working on the remaining casualties and everything was working well.

"Doctor Cameron!" came a shout from behind her "We've got the other two men."

Cameron put her helmet back on and made her way back into the "tunnel of hell" as she had been describing it in her head. It turned out that the two trapped men had been huddled together and had miraculously been cocooned within the twisted metal. Apart from some cuts, grazes and a low level concussion for one of the them, they were otherwise unhurt.

Cameron had given them the once over to check for anything more sinister and then gave the fire department the all clear to start leading the men out. "OK, so which one of you is Sam and which one of you is John?" Cameron asked in an attempt to engage in some normal conversation in the most bizarre of situations.

"That's John but I'm Bob, not Sam. If you're talking about Sam the site foreman he was right behind us when this thing started going to hell" the older of the two men stated "I haven't seen him since then."

Cameron's heart pounded. She had known that information hadn't been reliable - there was still at least one person trapped under this lot. "HEY!" she yelled to the fireman at the front "There's still someone else down here!"

"What do you expect to do about it now? Let's get these two up first and then we'll come back to look again" he replied dismissively. The fireman continued to climb and the other two men followed. Just then Cameron could have sworn she had heard metal hitting metal. She tried to concentrate on the area in which she thought she had heard it. There it was again - a faint clang-clang-clang. "Hold on!! I can hear someone" Cameron yelled. She hadn't realised but she had been so intent on listening for the noise that the others had nearly reached the surface.

"Hey!! Come on - get out of there!" yelled the fireman "You shouldn't be down there on your own. Get up here right now!"

"There is another patient down here and I'm not leaving him!!" she replied tersely "You do what you've got to do - I'll still be here when you get back."

She started to look around to see if she could locate where the noise was coming from. Suddenly, Cameron became aware of a rubbling noise. She looked up and the window of sky which framed the tunnel entrance seemed to suddenly get much smaller.

_At the same time, on the other side of the building site ..._

House turned just in time to watch the remainder of the scaffold collapse in on itself. Where was Cameron?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

House stood there in utter disbelief. The remaining pile of scaffold collapsed in on itself. All across the building site an eerie hush descended. Everything seemed to be caught in slow motion. Suddenly everyone seemed to jump back into normal time and several of the medical team and fire department ran for the collapsed structure. House was a second behind them. Of course he couldn't run, and with the rough terrain to navigate he couldn't even limp as fast as he normally could.

All he could think of was finding Cameron. Surely she hadn't been inside the wreckage when it had collapsed? Had she? House's heart seemed to skip a beat. What would he tell Cuddy, Foreman, Wilson. "Oh my God - what will I tell the wombat?" House thought and then stopped himself. He didn't even know if Cameron was underneath all that metal yet.

By the time House reached the other emergency service personnel at the wreckage it looked like absolute chaos. There were people moving all over the surface of the wreckage, others were desperately pulling pieces of metal, wood and other items off the top of the pile and hurling them as far away as possible. It was obvious to House that someone was still trapped underneath, but who? He searched the crowd desperately for Cameron. He saw someone who looked like her from behind - she was roughly the right height and build, she was wearing the same over sized overalls and helmet. House grabbed her by the arm and span her round.

"Hey!" said one of the junior doctors from the ER "House, what are you doing?" Most of the staff in the ER knew House. He could often be found hanging around, annoying Cameron. Many of the staff often wondered whether there was more to the relationship between the two doctors but most dismissed this when they saw Cameron and Chase together. They were obviously close and very much in love. No-one could imagine Cameron cheating on Chase - and certainly not with someone like House.

Cameron was very popular within her department. She took a keen and genuine interest in both her staff and her patients. She gave praise where praise was due but was also tough enough to deal with the errors that were inevitably made. That was the toughness she had learnt from House.

"Where's Cameron?" House asked still holding the other woman by the arm. He looked at her as her face changed from one of annoyance to one of concern.

"You haven't heard, have you?" the woman said in a gentle voice which seemed very out of place in such chaotic surroundings "House, she was still in there when that thing collapsed. She'd found another casualty but wouldn't leave him. Everyone else in accounted for. House, are you listening to me?"

House was looking past the junior doctor to the twisted wreckage behind her. He vaguely heard her talking but had faded out after she had confirmed his worse fears. He let go of the junior and tried to make his way toward the centre of the commotion. He suddenly became aware of the Fire Chief shouting through a loudhailer.

"HEY!! Listen up people!! I need everyone to stop where they are right now!" Everyone seemed to hear him at the same time and stopped dead in their tracks "Look, I know one of your own is under here but I need you all to get out of here. My men have it under control. We're trying to get back down there now. When I need some medical assistance I'll shout up but right now its too dangerous for you all to be up here. Now get back!" the Chief finished his little speech and everyone dutifully started to move back - everyone, that is, apart from House.

"Hey you!! Are you deaf? I said get down" the Chief yelled again. House moved but in the direction of the Chief rather than away from him. He careful maneuvered his way over the twisted metal. The Chief started down the pile and met House halfway. "I said are you deaf?"

"Deaf and crippled? Man, that would be some bad luck" House replied "Now, why don't you get out of my way so I can get up there and we can avoid an incident."

"Are you crazy? We have two people at least trapped under this thing, I have no idea who you are and you just expect me to let you up there? Yeah right - let's go." With that the Chief grabbed hold of House's arm and started to lead him away. House snatched his arm back and grabbed the Chief collar with his free hand.

"I seriously suggest not touching me again otherwise you may be introduced to my cane here via an orifice you really don't want it to see" House leaned in closer and almost whispered "Especially in front of your men." House straightened up ancd continued "Now, how do I get up there without crippling my other leg?" House held the Chief's stare.

"Who the hell are you?" the Chief asked.

"You mean you don't know? I'm crushed" House said sarcastically holding a dramamtic hand to his chest "I used to be Dr Cameron's boss and I'm gonna be the one who looks after her when your idiots get her out."

"Hey, your doctor was the one who stayed down there when my man told her to get out - now, if you wanna talk stupid..." the Chief didn't get chance to finish what he was going to say before House dropped his cane and grabbed him again but this time with both hands.

"For your own health and safety do not finish that sentence." House spat at the man through clenched teeth "Get me up there right now."

"Let me go and we'll see what I can do" the chief replied. House obliged and the Chief straightened out his tunic. House struggled to bend down and retrieve his cane. The Chief lead him to the top of the wreckage "Stand there and don't move unless I tell you to." For once House did as he was told.

He took a moment to look around at the madness that he found himself in the middle of. There were medical personnel retreating down the pile, leaving him, the pompous Fire Chief and four of his men at the top. To give him his dues, the Chief was organising his men and getting them moving.

"You two - I want you to start from the top and starting assessing what we can move and what needs to stay put. You" he said pointing to another man "I want you to go back down and start collecting ropes and whatever you can lay your hands on to start securing this stuff before it starts shifting again." This man scuttled off and the Chief rounded on the last man "You - I want you on the radio - see if you can get a reply. It might not work through this much debris but it's worth a try."

At this, House started forward "What radio? And before you say it I know I wasn't supposed to move but what can I say? I'm a regular pain in the ass."

The Chief already looked like he was tired of fighting House and simply replied "Cameron was given a flashlight and a radio before she was allowed down there. Not sure if it will work but ..."

House again interrupted the Chief's sentence "Gimme" he said snatching the other handset of the fireman "Show me what to do. Hey, at least if I've got something to play with it'll keep me out of your hair. Assuming you have some under that helmet."

The Chief looked at House in disgust "Just show him how to use it, I've got more important things to do." With this he scrambled away and started barking out more orders.

"Just press this button here and it should transmit. Once you've finished speaking let go again and wait for the reply. Simple really" the fireman said.

"Yeah, if a dumb jerk fireman can use it I'm sure I can." Before the fireman had a chance to reply House was speaking into the handset. "Cameron? Cameron, can you hear me? I know you're down there - you can't ignore me. If you can hear me, let me know" House almost pleaded over the radio. He waited for a reply but all he got was static.

_Somewhere below House's current location ..._

Cameron lay there in the pitch black about 2 feet away from Sam, the other casualty she had found.

Sam had already suffered internal injuries from the original accident and these had been aggravated by the newest collapse. Both of his legs were trapped under twisted metal and, whilst he was still conscious, he hadn't been able to feel them from the knee down. His right arm had also been crushed and was most definitely broken in several places. He was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration from the intense heat under the wreckage. The period of unconsciousness had brought some much needed relief.

Cameron had also been knocked unconcious by the collapse. This had been instantaneous and she wasn't yet aware of her injuries. She was also pinned at the legs by twisted metal. One jagged piece had entered the underside of her left calf and come all the way through. She was bleeding heavily from the wound. She had suffered head trauma despite the heavy helmet she had been wearing.

In the dark, the radio which had been sending out nothing but static suddenly blared into life

"Cameron? Cameron, can you hear me? I know you're down there - you can't ignore me. If you can hear me, let me know"

Cameron was in no position to reply.


	5. Chapter 5

_I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the kind reviews and to those who have added this story to their alerts. I've had this story stuck in my head for ages and it's taken me a long time to pluck up the courage to share it with the world!! If Mr Shore won't bring us Hameron, we'll have to write it ourselves!! Also, an apology for anyone who is reading this in the States - I'm writing from little old England so if I got things wrong please forgive me!!_

Chapter 5

Cameron floated somewhere between reality and the unconscious state she had just been in for about 10 minutes. She lay there slowly coming too - where was she? She could remember seeing Chase and leaving the hospital. That's right - there had been an accident. Then suddenly everything came rushing back - the wreckage, House, going into the heart of the twisted metal, the sky above her disappearing. Cameron was suddenly very much awake.

She tried to sit up but fell backwards in agony, a small cry escaping her lips. She opened her eyes to nothing. What the hell was going on? Why was it so dark? She felt the panic rising in her chest. The realisation that she was trapped under God knew how much scaffold quickly dawned on her. Her heart was beating so hard it threatened to break her ribs. She felt dizzy despite the darkness and thought she might puke at any moment.

As she was coming too, she became aware of someone talking, calling her name. Perhaps she wasn't buried as far down as she had originally thought. Then, lying there in the pitch black, she remember the two things the Fire Chief had given her before she entered the wreckage for the first time - the two way radio and the flash light.

Cameron quickly checked her pockets as carefully as she could. Every move sent pain through her body and she gasped at its intensity. She ran her hands down the overalls she wore, desperately checking the numerous pockets for the flashlight. She realised then that she was drenched to the skin. She was soaking wet and her clothes were saturated.

She smiled into the darkness when her hands found the flashlight in her trouser pocket. Being careful not to drop it, Cameron retrieved the flashlight from her pocket and turned it on. The scene in front of her did nothing to reassure her.

As she looked around she saw that she had been enclosed in a makeshift cavern of twisted metal and wood. It wouldn't have big enough for her to stand even if she had been able to. The metal surrounded her and came to a stop approximately 3 feet from the top of her head. To her side Cameron's helmet laid partially crushed. This made her check herself for a head injury. When she reached around to the back of her head it came back with partially dried blood on it. No wonder she felt lightheaded and nauseous - classic symptoms of a concussion.

Cameron took a moment to survey the rest of her injuries. From the waist up she had gotten off relatively lightly - a few cuts and abrasions and of course the slightly more serious head injury. When she looked further down she could see that her legs were completely trapped by metal. She couldn't see past her knees and she suddenly realised she couldn't feel them either. Her heart started to pound again. Claustrophobia closed in on her and she could have sworn that the metal cage she was trapped inside was moving towards her. She started to take slow, deep breathes in a vain attempt to calm herself. She was suddenly interrupted when the radio that she had almost forgotten about blared into life.

"CAMERON!! Answer me damn it. I know you're there, I can hear you clenching!" It was House's voice and Cameron had never been happier to hear it. She scrambled to find the radio which had been in her hand at the time of the collapse. She knew from the loudness of House's voice that it couldn't be too far away. Then she spotted it - just to her left and partially hidden by a paint can. She reached out for it but it was just out of reach. She tried to shuffle to her side to reach further and pain ripped through her left leg - she screamed in agony.

_Somewhere above Cameron's metal cage ..._

"Hey! Shut up!" House shouted. He could have sworn he had heard something. He had been stood at the top of the pile, talking into the radio for nearly 15 minutes with no reply. With every burst of static his heart had grown heavier. Cameron wasn't answering, why? Part of him told him that she had probably dropped the radio and couldn't retrieve it. The other part of him told him she was already dead.

Everyone working on the pile stopped when they heard House shouting. Silence descended over the work site and everyone listened. House then heard a faint scream from somewhere below him. "HERE! Over here - I definitely heard her" he yelled at the firemen "Cameron? Quit messing around down there and answer me." House shouted into the radio once more.

_Back at the metal cage..._

Cameron gave one more effort to grab the radio, desperate to hold it in her hands and draw some comfort from at least being close to someones voice. This effort brought another wave of absolutely agony through her leg. She let out another scream of pain and was instant sick, heaving from the agony, but it was worth it - she now had the radio in her hand.

"House?!" Cameron asked desperately with a shakey voice "House? Are you there?"

"Of course I'm here, I've been shouting at you for the last 15 minutes - when did you become so ignorant? You've been hanging around with Foreman for too long" came the reply from above.

Cameron clutched the radio and held it against her forehead, eyes closed. She felt tears burning behind her eyes but wouldn't let them show - there would be plenty of time for that when she got out of this hellhole. "I don't think I've ever been so happy to hear your voice."

"That's what all my ladies say when I call them" House replied "but then again they are charging me like 10 bucks a minute." House had always joked his way out of difficult situations and this was no different. "Cameron, how you doing down there?" House asked trying not to show too much concern.

"Feels as though I have quite a bad gash to the back of the head and a slight concussion to go with it. I'm dizzy and nauseous. I'm trapped from the knees down and I can't feel my legs below there. Well, apart from when I try to move and then I can certainly feel them. There's obviously something wrong down there but I can't see. Apart from being soaking wet, that's about it." Cameron had entered full professionally mode - checking herself over for injuries instead of some stranger in the ER.

"Are you losing blood?" House asked. His face showed his concern and he was glad Cameron couldn't see it. He had gotten more concerned as she had described her condition. He was most concerned about the leg trauma. He rubbed a hand over his face and rough stubble as he waited for the reply.

"I'm not sure but I would have thought so. I'm getting colder even though it has to be about 100 degrees down here so I assume I'm losing blood from somewhere. Being this wet doesn't help" she replied as a shiver went through her body almost to illustrate her point.

"Well the firemen should enjoy the wet t-shirt when they get you out - I hope you're wearing some decent underwear and the puppies are under control" House quipped.

Suddenly House's radio was filled with the sound of someone retching and quite obviously struggling for breathe. "Oh my God!" Cameron's voice came over the radio but was then replaced by static.

"Cameron? Talk to me Cameron!" House called over the radio but he was met with nothing but more static.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay in updating and thanks again for all of your kind reviews. Oh yeah - especially to Limaccia for choosing me to be the "lucky" author to get the grammar lesson and pointing out the handful of errors I appeared to have made - thanks ever so!!_

**Chapter 6**

The ER at PPTH was overflowing with casualties from the building site. The hospital was no longer taking any new patients and ambulances were being diverted to other local hospitals. Due to half the ER staff being on site and slowly returning with some of the casualties, the rest of the medical staff had been drafted in to help out.

Wilson had been running his daily clinic but that had been cancelled due to the emergency. Foreman had been trying to keep House's army of potential new fellows entertained whilst they waited for the boss to show up - "where the hell is he anyway?" he thought to himself.

Chase had been getting ready to go home after an all nighter in surgery. Then he had seen Cameron as she was leaving for the building site and he decided to stay at the hospital. There was no point going home anyway - he wouldn't have slept until he knew she was back at the hospital safely.

Chase and Cameron had "officially" been seeing each other for several months now. No more sneaking around in janitor's cupboards or regular Tuesday meetings. The couple had become very close and Chase was going with Cameron to her parents house the following weekend - a serious step in any relationship. Chase was secretly nervous about meeting Cam's parents but was also excited. He had worked hard at persuading Cameron that their relationship could be more than pre-arranged meetings on a Tuesday.

Chase even felt as if the cloud that was House was finally lifting as well. Sure, Cameron had said on many occassions, and not just to him, that she was over House but there was still that nagging doubt at the back of his mind. Chase occassionally caught House and Cam talking and thought he could still some sparkage between the two. Then he would chide himself for doubting her.

House had been shocked by the old gangs reappearance at the hospital, even going as far as entertaining the thought for a microsecond that he may have been imagining them altogether. Wilson had confided this very fact in Chase shortly after House had discovered the truth. After he had found out House had made several, albeit brief, trips to the ER to see Cameron. These visits had become less and less recently and Chase was glad of it.

Chase's train of thought was shattered as the ER doors flung open to admit one final patient - all the rest were now enroute to other hospitals. Chase rushed forward to take on this new patient "What have we got?" he said in his broad Australian accent.

"Female casualty - she was hit by some falling debris" said the attending EMT. "Has been unconscious since we arrived on scene. On arrival she was trapped under some of the scaffold. We had to wait for the fire department to free her before we could get her out. She has an obvious head wound. She arrested on the way here. We managed to get her intubated and her heart is holding its own for now. Query spinal trauma - she's been immobilised throughout."

The team lifted her from the ambulance gurney onto a hospital one as gently as they could to prevent aggrevating any spinal injury the woman had suffered. Chase went to work checking the womans vital signs and asking for extra lines to be put in so that the necessary fluids and drugs could be administered.

Chase didn't see Sarah, the young nurse who had been helping out at the accident site, arrive shortly after and slip quietly into the main reception area of the hospital.

Sarah had gotten to know House quite well in the short time she had known him and she guessed that informing the Dean of Medicine that one of her staff members was currently buried alive had slipped his mind. By the way Chase was still working, Sarah guessed that by some miracle word hadn't yet reached him either.

Lisa Cuddy was enjoying a quite 5 minutes in her office when Sarah came to find her. She had been rushing around attending to her duties as the Hospital Administrator for about 2 hours now. She needed to take a moment to gather herself for the next 2 hours which were likely to be just as manic. She looked up when she heard the timid knock at the door.

"Dr Cuddy" Sarah said "Could I have a word? I'm not sure if you've heard but I've just come back from the accident site" Sarah's voice trailed off.

"Yes of course. How many casualties are still on site?" Cuddy asked, so far unsure as to why this junior nurse had felt the need to come to her to give her a personal report on the situation.

"That's just it. Most of the remaining casualties have been extracted from the scene and shipped out to other local ER's. There is at least one, possibly two casualties that are still at the site" Sarah said moving forward towards Cuddy "One of them is Dr Cameron."

"What?" Cuddy said in disbelief. She had known of course that the site was going to be dangerous and she had thought twice about letting her ER team leave the hospital to be directly involved in the rescue operation, but the fire department had specifically asked her for the hospitals assistance and this left Cuddy with little choice. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"I wasn't that close when it happened but I think she was in the middle of the scaffold trying to reach another patient when the debris collapsed in on itself" Sarah explained. "Our team tried to reach Dr Cameron but we were ordered down by the Fire Chief. Dr House stayed up there..." Sarah never got to finish the sentence.

"HOUSE?! What the hell is he doing there and why the hell hasn't he called this is?" Cuddy was fuming, She shouldn't have been surprised by House's behaviour but this was a totally different situation - this involved a member of her staff and an ex-member of House's own team.

"I kinda guessed that House would have overlooked telling you so I thought I'd better come and see you myself" Sarah explained as she watched Cuddy moved towards her desk and pick up the phone "Dr Cuddy - wait. I don't think Dr Chase knows yet."

Cuddy's hand hovered just above the phone. Her first instinct had been to phone House and find out what the hell was going on. She hadn't even thought of Chase who was currently out there working in the ER. She was of course aware of Cameron and Chase's relationship - it was difficult not to be aware of it when they all worked together.

"Sarah, I need you to go and get Doctor Chase for me. Don't tell him why, just make something up and tell him I need to see him" Cuddy told Sarah who dutifully scuttled off to find him. Cuddy had to work out how she was gonna tell Chase what had happened to Cameron. She didn't have long - Chase appeared not 5 minutes later.

"Hi. Did you want me? It's just they're pretty short staffed out there and they need all hands on deck" Chase said looking at Cuddy and noticing the worried look on her face "What? What is it?" he demanded.

"Chase - it's Cameron. I don't have the full details but it appears there's been an accident and she's trapped at the site. I'm just about to ring House - he's with her" Cuddy told him carefully.

"House?! What's he doing there? I bet he pushed her into this with some sarcastic comment. If anything happens to her ..." Chase started to say.

"Lets just get the details before you start planning to get revenge on House" Cuddy said holding her hands up as if to silence Chase. She picked up the receiver and dialled House's cell number.

_At the same time, back at the building site ..._

House was still shouting into his radio. Following the retching and Cameron's exclamation there had been nothing but static from the radio. "HEY YOU!" House shouted at the Fire Chief "When are you planning on getting your butt into gear and rescuing the damsel in distress? I'm fast running out of insults for you."

"Somehow I don't believe that" the Chief whispered and then turned to House and spoke loudly "We're going as fast as we can - you wouldn't want the rest of this stuff to cave in on top of Dr Cameron now would you?"

"No, couldn't have that, who would teach me how to write my name in girly script?" House replied. The Chief just looked at him in disbelief when House's cell rang.

"Cuddy!" House said cheerfully as he answered his cell "Not really the best time to talk - could you and the fun bags call back later when I'm not trying to save the hospital from having to pay out on a 'death in service' claim?"

"Why the hell haven't you called me? If you're trying to piss me off House, well done, you've succeeded" Cuddy said sharply, she was in no mood to argue with House today. "What's going on down there? I've got Chase with me" she said hoping that House would come to his senses and actually give her the information she wanted. She looked over at Chase who was on the other side of her desk. She thought he was remaining incredibly calm despite the situation.

"Well, Saint Cameron decided to take it upon herself to endeavour to save the entire building site herself and has now been rewarded by being trapped underneath about three storey's worth of scaffold" House replied "I've spoken to her. She sounds pretty banged up - I'm pretty sure she's losing blood from somewhere as she said she was getting cold despite it being hotter than hell down there. The dumb-ass Fire Chief could find a haystack let alone a needle so my confidence in him finding Cameron any time soon is slim to none existent."

"What else? I can tell there's something else you're not telling me House" Cuddy asked. She could tell he was holding something back - hell, he'd been doing it for so many years now Cuddy was getting to be somewhat of an expert in reading House like a book.

"Are you on speakerphone?" House asked.

"No. You can talk - Chase is here but he's not on the line" Cuddy replied, instantly worried by the tone of House's voice.

"I was speaking to Cameron via the radio she has with her. It suddenly cut off but not before I could hear what sounded like Cameron's lungs giving up the fight. I haven't been able to get her on the radio since" House replied. Cuddy could hear something unusual in his voice - was that concern?

"Come on" Chase asked angrily "Tell me what's going on!"

"In a minute" Cuddy replied abruptly and turned her back on him whilst she carried on the conversation "House, what do you really think is going on?" she asked.

"I don't know" he sighed "I don't have enough information..." just then the radio crackled into life.

"HOUSE?!" Cameron's voice was filled with fear.

"Gotta go fun bags - speak to you later" House said into his cell before he hung up.

"House? HOUSE?!" Cuddy shouted futilely down the phone "Goddammit. Chase -" Cuddy turned round to speak to the young Australian but all she saw was an empty room - Chase had gone.


	7. Chapter 7

Cameron had been talking to House on the radio and was attempting to calm herself down. She tried not to let it show in her voice but she was petrified She had become claustrophobic when she hadn't been before. She was afraid of the dark when she hadn't been before. She was suddenly afraid of dying when death had held no fear for her before.

Sure, she had watched dozens of patients die, sometimes a painful and tortured death, and she had no desire to follow them anytime soon. However, she had also seen the peace that came across their faces once they had slipped away. Cameron knew there was noting to fear after this life was over. She didn't believe in a God of sorts but she knew there was more beyond this life.

She had seen the same thing on her husband's face as he had slipped away. His face had been twisted with pain, anguish and even anger - anger that it should be him taken so young. Why couldn't it have been some old man who'd already lived his life? Why a young man with everything to live for and a beautiful young wife on his arm?

Cameron had shared that anger at the time but then, just before he passed away, he had turned to her and told her that everything was going to be OK now and that he would love her forever. Cameron saw that peace cross his face, the peace she would see again years later on the faces of the patients she was unable to save.

She had seen it more in the ER than she had as part of the Diagnostics team. For all of House's faults he had an excellent success rate. He hardly ever lost a patient. The ER on the other hand was a completely different environment - shootings, stabbings, car accidents - any trauma you could think of, all people close to death, replying on Cameron to pull them back.

Now Cameron faced her own mortality and had to place herself in the hands of others. One of those 'others' was House - the man who hardly ever lost a patient. She took some comfort from that fact.

She had been telling House how cold she was and that she was wet through and he had made his crack about the wet t-shirt competition when she heard a shuffling noise. At first she thought it was the metal shifting or settling but then the shuffling noise became a choking noise and then the choking became a retching noise. Cameron's heart began to race - the other patient that she had seen and refused to go back to the surface for. How could she have forgotten about him? Then, just as she thought her heart couldn't pound any stronger, a hand had grabbed her arm from behind.

"Oh my God!" she cried and dropped the radio. Fear took her and she found herself of the verge of hyperventilating. "_House_" she thought to herself "_I've lost him! The radio's gone. What am I gonna do now? I'm never getting out of here - I'm never gonna see Chase again. I'll never see my family again_" She could feel her breathing become ragged but then a voice whispered from behind her.

"Please," the voice begged "please help me."

Cameron could tell from the weakness of the voice that the man was in bad shape. She now had someone else to concentrate on and this took her mind of her own predicament. She felt herself slipping back into Dr Cameron mode - caring for everyone else before herself.

"Hello?" she asked "Can you hear me? What's your name?"

"Sam, my name's Sam. Who are you?"

"My name's Dr Cameron - I wish we could have met under better circumstances" Cameron chuckled as she spoke to try and keep the mood light. She tried to turn round to get a better look at Sam who lay behind her but as she did so pain tore through her leg and she let out a scream.

"Hey!" Sam yelped "Are you alright? Don't try to move."

Cameron lay there for a moment, waiting for the pain to subside. "I'm OK - I'm the doctor here, I should be looking after you, not the other way round." Cameron's pain wasn't going away so quickly this time, it stayed with her as she shivered. She was so cold and was getting colder. Her medical brain told her this must be due to blood loss. It must have been 100 degrees under the twisted metal, she certainly shouldn't be shivering. She knew that if someone didn't get to her pretty quickly her brain would act and start shutting down her body to try and preserve her life for as long as it could. She reasoned that every time she moved she aggravated the leg injury that she couldn't see, perhaps leading to greater blood loss. She tried to remain as still as she could for now.

"I can't turn to see you so you're gonna have to help me out here, OK?" Cameron asked

"Yeah, OK" Sam replied "I can't see much back here though."

"I'm gonna turn the flashlight towards you and I need you to tell me what hurts and whether you can see any reason for it, OK?" Cameron turned the flashlight behind her as gently as she could so as not to cause herself too much pain but even this slight movement caused her to grunt in agony. "There - what can you see?"

Sam's eyes took a minute to adjust to the new found light. After the initial collapse, he had been trapped under the scaffold. He had been directly underneath the two colleagues that Cameron had reached first. His chest had been crushed and he could hardly take a breath let alone shout loudly enough to be heard over the din that the rescue workers were making. He had tried to reach for a loose piece of wood so that he could bang it against some metal to make people aware that he was still there but he hadn't been able to reach it. There was no way he could shift any further. His chest had been crushed and the metal pinned him in place.

He had been knocked unconscious by the second fall of debris. This had caused a large cut to form from the top of his hairline all the way down his left cheek. When he had come too, he had blood in his eyes, nose and mouth. This had caused the coughing and choking fit that Cameron had heard first hand and that House had heard over the radio.

Before the second collapse Sam had heard Cameron's voice and figured that she was just above him, tending to his colleagues. He tried desperately to make himself heard without success. After the second collapse Cameron has been thrown further into the wreckage and now lay in front of Sam with her back to him. When he had coughed and spluttered himself back into the living nightmare that they both found themselves in, Sam had heard Cameron cry out in shock. Instinctively he had reached out and grabbed her arm - desperate to have someone close to him and for someone else to be here with him in the dark. It was this action that had made Cameron drop her one and only life line to the surface - the radio.

Sam squinted in the dark, looking around and straining to see what had happened to him in the accident. First he put a hand to his head and that came back with blood on it. Some of the blood has obviously started to clot but most of it was fresh and still oozing from the wound that ran down his face. He looked further down his body - his arms were free but his right arm was badly broken. His t-shirt, like Cameron's, was wet through from the water tank that had been above them. He thought it strange that he hadn't realised or felt that he was this wet but then he realised he couldn't feel much from the middle of his chest downwards. What made him realise this was the fact that he had looked down and seen both of his legs disappear under a mountain of rubble. This sight had made him feel physically sick and he started to heave. That was when he had felt the broken ribs. The strangled sound had made Cameron automatically twist round to see what was happening and this brought her her own pain.

"Sam?" Cameron called "Sam, I need you to calm down and take some deep breathes. Sam? Can you answer me? Come on, don't you get passing out and leaving me on my own again."

Sam struggled to catch hold of himself. He tried to slow his breathing and eventually he got it under control. "Sorry" he whispered to Cameron "I'm in a bit of a mess back here - I can't see my legs properly and I can't feel them either." Sam couldn't manage more than a whisper now. He chest was tight and he was struggling to get a decent lung full of air.

"Hey, it's OK - this isn't exactly an every day occurrence for me either" Cameron replied "Can you see anything else?"

"I can feel that I have a cut on my head that runs all the way down my face. My ribs feel pretty busted up as well, I can't get a good breathe in. I can't feel much below the middle of my chest but I'm actually quite glad about that."

"I'm in the same position, I can't feel much below my knees until I move - then I can feel them alright. Which way are you facing? Are you looking towards me?"

"Yep, I'm looking at the back of your head."

"Good. I'm going to turn the flashlight towards me. If you can, can you look at my legs and try and see what's going on down there?"

"I can try" came the reply. Cameron just had to know what she was facing. She needed to know just how bad things were. She started to turn the flashlight toward herself "WAIT!" Sam shouted the best he could from behind her.

"It's OK - I'll turn it back when I'm finished" Cameron said thinking that Sam was suffering from a fear of the dark.

"No" he breathed heavily "You had a radio right? I remember you talking to someone - someone up there. I made you drop it when I grabbed your arm. Well, it's right by the side of you and it's about to drop over the edge. Look to your left carefully"

Cameron slowly shifted herself to the left and sure enough the two-way radio sat precariously close to the edge of what she could only described as a crater. It was if the scaffold has collapsed to a certain point and then jammed itself. There was now a deep hole which looked like it was threatening to engulf them at any minute.

"OK" Cameron said quietly as if any sudden noise would cause the radio to simply tumble over the edge "I see it. I'm gonna try and reach it" Cameron tried to stretch out but pain shot through her body. She cried out in agony. She returned to her original position panting from the pain and the stress on her body.

"Hey, you alright?" Sam asked "You were so close to getting it"

"I don't think I can reach any further - my leg feels like its being ripped apart" Cameron replied. "I'm going to carry on and turn the flashlight round so you can see what's got me trapped, OK? I'll do it slowly so I don't knock that radio over the edge."

"OK" Sam replied watching the arc of light swing round slowly to Cameron's lower half. What he saw threatened to make him heave again. A large piece of metal stuck straight through Cameron's left calf and came all the way through to the other side. The leg was twisted at an odd angle - he couldn't see the other one at all. "Err - well, it doesn't look that bad. I'm sure it will be fine" Sam didn't want to break the bad news to this woman who was only trapped here with him because she had tried to save him.

"Look, I'm an ER doctor I've seen things you wouldn't even be able to dream about. Just tell me what's happened down there" Cameron's voice was full of desperation. She needed to know.

"OK - there's a large piece of metal sticking out through your left leg and it's bent in a really weird shape. It's definitely broken. I can see quite a lot of blood. I can't see your other leg at all - it's completely buried. Sorry"

Cameron sat there and took in the news. So, she was losing blood which explained the shivering and she had a large foreign object sticking through her leg which explained the agony every time she moved. Although she had been desperate to know her situation she now understood the saying "ignorance is bliss".

"Hey" Sam half whispered from behind her, worried about how deathly still and silent Cameron had fallen "Are you alright?"

This jarred Cameron back to life. With all the effort she could muster she flung herself towards the radio - the only contact she had with the outside world and with House. Her hands closed around the radio as pain tore through her leg - she couldn't help but howl in agony. It was worth it, she had it in her hands and held it as if it was the most precious thing she owned. It was her link to the outside world, her only way of picturing life beyond this hell hole.

"HOUSE?!" she yelled into the radio, praying for a reply.


	8. Chapter 8

_Hi guys - really, really sorry for the delay in updating (hanging my head in shame) - got lots of excuses which you're probably not interested in but I'm back now!! Hopefully I won't take so long to update this time. Again thanks for all the reviews and those who have added to their alert list. Hope you enjoy!_

Chapter 8

Chase had heard enough. He had listened to the conversation between Cuddy and House for long enough to know that there was something seriously wrong. He had only heard one side of the conversation but that was enough. Chase could tell Cameron was in trouble. That's when he decided to leave the hospital and go down to the site himself. Well, 'decided' probably wasn't the right word for it, his body seemed to be on auto-pilot, moving without him having to do much thinking.

So strong was Chase's auto-pilot that he didn't see Dr Wilson until he barged straight into him. This jarred Chase back to reality. "Hey" Wilson exclaimed "what's the rush? Think we have enough casualties around here without you making more. Chase? Chase, what's wrong?" Wilson had seen the look in Chase's eyes and knew something was wrong "Where are you headed Chase?"

"It's Cameron, I've got to get to Cameron" Chase replied, continuing straight by Wilson and heading for the exit.

"OK, do you want to tell me what's going on?" Wilson lunged forward and grabbed Chase by the upper arm to stop him from walking out of the ER.

"Get off me! I'm going and that's it. Cameron's had an accident and right now your mate is with her and probably making things twice as bad. Now, let me go!" Chase yanked his arm away from Wilson who didn't give up and followed the younger Dr out of the ER suite.

"Chase, just slow down and ..."

"DR CHASE!" this time it was Cuddy's voice that cut across the lobby. She trotted across the lobby in her usual stiletto heels. "Dr Chase, just wait. I know you want to get there but really, do you think you'll be able to do anything useful? You're too close to Cameron, too personally involved."

"At least she'd know I was there" Chase replied, turn to look at Cuddy, a hand running through his blond hair.

"Right" Wilson said "does somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on??"

Cuddy spoke first "Dr Cameron was attending to 2 casualties when what's left of the scaffold collapsed on top of her. She is trapped, possibly together with one other casualty. House is with her."

"Yeah, and that's exactly why I've got to go to her. Not exactly the calming influence in a crisis is he?" With that Chase made a move to the exit again but this time he found his path blocked by Cuddy.

"I know you want to go down there but really, what are you going to be able to do? No-one can get to her until the Fire Service find her and release her. You're the best intensivist this hospital has got. If you're gonna be any use to Cameron, it's gonna be when she comes through those ER doors, not when you are standing helplessly watching as the Fire guys do their job. Please, stay here." Cuddy placed a hand on Chase's shoulder and he did seem to relax slightly. Wilson took this opportunity to speak.

"Do we know Cameron's condition?" Wilson winced slightly at his own question. He hoped that Cuddy would say 'yeah, she's fine, just waiting for the EMT's to reach her and pull her out. She'll be right back to work as soon as she gets back here'. But Wilson knew this wasn't the case. Wilson knew that Cuddy was trying to calm Chase with her words but by saying things such as "you're the best intensivist" and that Chase would best help Cameron when "she came through the ER doors", Wilson knew that the situation was anything but calm.

"House told me that he had spoken to Cameron via a radio that she must have been given. House said he thought Cameron was injured and losing blood but he wasn't sure where from. The thing that concerned him the most was that the radio had gone silent just after it sounded as if Cameron has gone into respiratory distress" she turned to Chase "I'm so sorry Chase. The good news is that House pretty much hung up on me but just before he did I'm pretty sure I heard Cameron's voice over the radio."

"Dr Cuddy's right" it was Wilson's turn to address an increasingly pale Chase "there's really gonna be nothing you can do if you go down there. As much as you might not agree with House's methods, I know who I would want around if I was in Cameron's position. He's not going to take any crap off the Fire Dept and he's gone have nothing but Cameron's best interests at heart. You know that Chase, deep down, you know that."

Wilson listened to his words as he spoke them and was surprised at how convincing they sounded. Wilson knew House well - one of only a few people that House was relatively close to. He sort of understood how House's mind worked. Well, actually, no - no-one understood how House's mind worked apart from House. But Wilson could guess that right now House was telling the Fire Chief how to do his job, was talking to Cameron (hopefully) over the radio in his usual 'there's nothing wrong, this is so boring' tone of voice but, at the same time, was forming a mental picture of Cameron's surroundings and her injuries, whatever they may be.

Wilson also knew that despite himself House did care for Cameron. Care might have been too strong a word, but House did feel something for Cameron. Wilson had first noticed it when he joked about 'putting the moves' on Cameron. For an instant, just the briefest of moments, Wilson thought he had seen a look a mild jealously on House's face. Then there had been other moments too - the monster trucks, the date to get Cameron to come back to work, the albeit brief comfort he had given to Cameron over the death of Ezra Powell (this was not so common knowledge around the hospital but Wilson wasn't stupid, had worked it out and questioned House about it later), allowing Cameron into his apartment when he was detoxing - where House had acted slightly out of character where Cameron was concerned.

"I - I just need her to know that I'm worried about her and that I want to help" Chase had obviously taken Wilson's words in and drawn some strength from them. "_Go me_" Wilson thought to himself.

"Come on Dr Chase" Cuddy replied "I think it's best that you go and find somewhere to sit and wait. I promise to personally keep you up to date with progress and any news I receive. I think Foreman is due a break right about now - why don't you go find him and go up to the cafeteria? Grab a coffee or something."

Chase seemed to nod almost automatically. By co-incidence Foreman chose that exact moment to exit the ER doors and head towards them.

"Hey" Foreman called across the lobby "what's up? You guys look pretty serious."

"Foreman, I need you to take Chase upstairs and make sure he stays there. Make him drink a coffee of something, just keep him from bolting" Cuddy instructed.

"O-K" Foreman replied, confused "can I ask why? Chase is a big boy now and can kinda look after himself."

"There's been an incident at the accident scene" Wilson said "I sorry but Dr Cameron's been injured. She's trapped under the debris. She's injured but we don't know how badly. House is with her"

"House?!" Foreman replied a little louder than he intended "Come on Chase, we're going down there."

"I give up!" Cuddy huffed "Wilson, do the talk again, I haven't got the energy. I'm going back to the ER. Dr Chase - please stay put. I promise I will come to you as soon as I have any other news."

Cuddy turned on her heel and walked away "jeez" she muttered under her breath "they're all morphing into House. Just what I need - 3 of the miserable jerks walking around the hospital making my life a misery."

_Back at the building site ............_

"HOUSE?!" she yelled into the radio, praying for a reply.

"Hello, this is Doctor Gregory House. I'm sorry I can't take your call at the moment, I'm off saving an ex-employee of mine who doesn't know when to stop caring and start running" came the reply.

"Quit it smart ass" came the cold reply from Cameron, she really wasn't in the mood to mess around "I need to know when we are getting out of here."

"We? Have you made yourself a little friend?" House's sarcasm never ceased.

"Shut up! For God's sake just shut up House!" Cameron's voice was close to cracking "I have another casualty down here - Sam, he's the site foreman that was still missing. I can't see him myself but he's told me he has a large gash to the head, a broken right arm and he's numb from the waist down. He has broken ribs and is having difficulty breathing - I'm worried there's a pneumothorax. I need to know when you're going to get your act together and get us out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, that's all very nice but what about you? You're not sounding too good there."

"I'm fine - this isn't about me, it's about my patient." Cameron sat in the near darkness, shivering from the cold. If House was trying to piss her off he was doing a really good job. She was seething at his nonchalance. She was reminded of how stupid she had been to actually think she liked this jerk. All those months she had wasted mooning over him, desperately trying to get House to reciprocate her feelings. And what does she get for all her efforts? A man who can't even be civil when she was possibly facing her own mortality.

But that was just the point. House was trying to piss Cameron off. He would never say or let it show, but he was seriously worried about Cameron. She had described Sam's injuries and he knew hers would be similar. She had told him she was feeling cold and this was a big indicator of pretty severe blood loss. House knew that the dumb ass Fire Chief was no where near getting to Cameron and the site foreman, who in House's opinion, sounded like a lost cause.

He also knew what would happen to Cameron next - confusion, tiredness and eventually loss of consciousness. He need to keep Cameron fired up, needed to keep her angry. This would get her adrenaline flowing and would increase the time she had left until the inevitable happened. Hopefully the Fire Dept would get to Cameron before this happened. House could already hear in Cameron's tone of voice that she was in a great deal of pain and that she was never going to admit to it. He could also hear the shock in her trembling voice.

If there was a more appropriate time for House to be the miserable, anti-social bastard that he was - now was it. Cameron's life might well just depend on it. "_How over dramtic can you get?_" House thought to himself "_I've gotta stop watching General Hospital_"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Just tell me what's going on with you" House insisted "You can be the other guys Doctor and I'll be yours."

"Sam" Cameron said quite weakly "His name is Sam. All I can tell you about me is what he's seen. I can't see for myself. Liked I said, I'm cold, wet through, dizzy and feel like I could revisit my breakfast at any moment. Sam's confirmed that he can see I'm trapped from the knees down - I can't feel much below there unless I try to move. He thinks my leg is broken." She left out the whole 'oh yeah, and there's a huge piece of metal sticking through my leg' story. There was nothing House could do about it from where he was anyway so why bother him about it but something in her voice must have given it away.

"And?" came House's reply "Full story please. Can't diagnose on half a story Cameron. Come on, tell Daddy, he won't be angry." House was now genuinely annoyed. Why wasn't she telling him what was really wrong?

"And, nothing" she spat over the radio "That's it House. Conditions aren't exactly perfect for a full work up you know. And what's there to diagnose anyway? A whole heap of scaffolding just fell on top of me - there, I'm diagnosed. You know, you must be finding this all very boring. There's no medical mystery for you to figure out, no family to hide from, no need to get Cuddy's permission for your next crazy cure - why are you still here? You should have given up ages ago and gone back to you PSP or whatever you're obsessed with lately." She felt her voice cracking and told herself it was the stress and physical exhaustion of this whole crazy situation. What it actually was, of course, was blind panic. She was hurt, she had no idea how she was going to get out or even if she was going to get out alive and House was still being an ass.

House was strangely worried by Cameron's dismissal of him. He was on the verge of being slightly hurt by her comments. Of course he wasn't just going to leave her there. He was going to stay until she was out of her metal prison one way or another. He caught himself about to shout down the radio exactly that, that he wasn't going anywhere until she was out and that didn't she know that ......... what? Didn't she know what? That he cared about her? He questioned himself, almost having an internal argument with himself. He had just spent the last few years rejecting all of Cameron's many approaches, telling himself that he wasn't interested, she wasn't his type. But then, when this whole thing exploded and he knew Cameron was trapped one of his first thoughts was what he was going to tell Chase. Was this caring again? Did he actually care what Chase was going to think? No, he couldn't. That was so un-House. House was supposed to be cold, a loner, no real friends apart from Cuddy and Wilson, no family to speak of. But here he was slightly upset by Cameron's words and worrying about what he was going to tell Chase. '_Mental note - store this for later analysis, now really isn't the time!_'

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you? Me leaving you here to take all the glory and be the only hero. Just think what kudos I'll get when I personally haul your ass out of there - especially with me being a cripple. I know you're a little woman and everything but hey, bum leg here!" House quipped his way out yet again.

"You're an ass House. You always have been and always will be. Get over yourself!" Cameron replied "Look, I haven't got the energy for this. Just tell me that someone up there is actually working to get us out of here and that I haven't got to rely on you. I'm seriously concerned about Sam, he needs to get out of here now. When are they gonna get to us?" Cameron practically pleaded for more information.

"They're working on it Cameron, don't get your panties in a bunch. I'll try and find out how long these jerks are gonna take getting to you. Now, don't you get going anywhere - this is no time to be wandering around taking in the scenery." He started to look round for Chief Jackson. Spotting him at the foot of the mountain of metal House yelled for the Chief to come up and join him but it was no good. There was so much noise House couldn't make himself heard. "Cameron, I'm going to have go down to the bottom of the pile to speak to the Fire Chief. I'll be back - OK?" House hoped he didn't sound too desperate with that last question.

"Yeah - I'll just hang here and wait for you to get back" came the reply from Cameron. No sarcasm, just a straight reply from a slightly weaker sounding voice. This spurred House on and he precariously made his way down the twisted metal and shattered wood. It took him a good 5 minutes to make it to the bottom.

"Hey - I need you to tell me you're gonna be making some progress real soon. I want her out of there ASAP." House stared at the Chief who simply looked back at him.

"I've told you, we're going as fast as we can. There's a lot that could go wrong here - one wrong move and we won't be pulling anyone out of there alive. And anyway, we have two casualties to think of, don't we?" The Chief started to move away but House grabbed him by the arm.

"Look, I have no doubt that you think you are simply marvellous at your job but you need to listen to the real expert on the scene - that's me by the way. We have two casualties at the moment. One is probably gonna die before you eat what is probably going to be your 4th donut of the day" House carried on despite the Chief opening his mouth to protest "The other casualty is a caring type of person who is probably denying to herself, and to me, what is really wrong with her as she has her best Samaritans hat on. Once that other guy jumps off the mortal coil Cameron is going to have to face the facts of her own injuries and I'm guessing that's gonna be a bit of a shock for her. Things are gonna get really bad from there on in - I'm grouchy now, just imagine what I'm gonna be like if that happens."

House left the comment hanging there. Both men stood and stared at each other. House was used to being the top dog, no-one invaded his territory without him allowing them to. But he wasn't on his territory now. This was Chief Jackson's back yard and he was merely a trespasser in it. House still wanted to be the "dominant male" and Chief Jackson knew this.

"Look, pal" Jackson replied in a very low voice, coming close to House's face "you're in my world now. Don't come in here like you own the place. Until the casualties are secured, they are my responsibility. You're here because I've allowed you to be. There are plenty of cops over there who I'm sure would just love to help your crippled ass out of here. Back off and let me do my job or, you're right, they're probably both gonna die before we get to them. Are you going to be able to live with that on your conscious? I see it every day and I'm sure you do to. But this is just another day at the office for me. I'll go home tonight, have dinner with my wife and kids. We'll talk about the days we just had, I'll say mine was tough and we lost a few people. But that will be it. I won't linger over the passing of two strangers. But for you, this is different. For you, this is personal. OK, one of the people under there is a complete stranger to you as well as to me but the other one isn't. If she doesn't make it, are you gonna sleep soundly in your bed tonight? Or are you going to lie there and listen to this little conversation over and over again? How you stopped me from doing my job and that, in the end, all my guys had to do was to retrieve two corpses?"

Jackson pulled even closer to House. House stood a head taller than the Chief. House had long let go of Jackson's arm and simply looked down at him. Jackson continued "I don't know who you are or how you operate when you're in your office and quite frankly, I don't care. I've been a patient man up until now but that patience is starting to wear a little thin. Why don't you just stay out of my way and let me do my job? You know as well as I do that every second counts in these types of situations and by my reckoning I've just wasted 5 minutes of my time pissing you off. For your information, my men now know exactly where the two casualties are and are just about to start moving debris. You're not going back up there" Jackson held up both of his hands and raised his voice to cut House's protests off before they started "it's not safe for you to be up there when stuff is being moved. If all goes to plan my men should be in contact with the casualties within 30 minutes."

"30 minutes may be too long" was all House could come back and reply with.

"Well that's how long it's going to take. Now, stay out of my way and stay out of the way of my men or you might find you don't sleep too well tonight." With that Jackson turned on his heel and strode away. House was left watching his back. Jackson's words echoed in his mind. He should really stay out of the way as he had been asked to do and let the Fire guys do their jobs. This was their speciality, his would be needed (hopefully) once Cameron was on a gurney heading for the ambulance. But he was House - he didn't give a damn what other people told him to do - Cuddy could bear witness to that.

House turned in the opposite direction to the Chief and started to climb back to the top of the pile again.

_Meanwhile, somewhere beneath the power struggle._

Cameron listened to the static on the radio after House had left to find out what was going on. She needed to focus on something. Her mind was threatening to close in on her. Allison was starting to think that falling asleep and waiting until this was all over was a great idea. But then Doctorr Cameron reminded her that if she fell asleep now it was likely to be permanent and non-reversible.

Cameron's fear of dying in this metal cage was in danger of turning into a certainty. She had been down there now for what seemed like an eternity. House had said that the Fire Department were working to get Sam and her out but apart from a few muffled bangs and shouts, she had heard nothing. Surely she should be hearing metal clanging against metal, shouts from her would be rescuers of "over here!" or "I've got them!", clouds of dust falling down as debris was shifted out of the way but - nothing. She had heard nothing.

Strange thoughts started to run through her mind "_I bet they know it's a lost cause and they've left us here to die_" she thought to herself. The rational Cameron, the Cameron that had survived working with House for 3 years, Doctor Cameron, knew this was rubbish. The rescuers would never give up until she was safe - until both of them were safe. After all, most of the people who were working to get her out of there were people Cameron saw nearly everyday - nurses and other medical staff, firemen she'd see on an almost daily basis bringing in the latest car smash victim or the family from the burning building. They wouldn't give up on her - would they?

That was Allison talking - questioning the sensible, practical Doctor Cameron. She tried to push these thoughts away. She has more or less ignored her patient whilst she had been bantering with House over the radio.

"Hey Sam" she called over her shoulder "you still with me?"

"Yes" came the weak and raspy reply "Got nowhere else to go now have I?"

"True - we're both kinda stuck here for the moment. They'll be with us soon though I'm sure" Cameron hoped she sounded confident.

"You don't think that at all" evidently she hadn't sounded confident at all Cameron though to herself as Sam wheezed his reply back "you're not even sure they're coming at all. You've gone into "Doctor mode" - practising your bedside manner on me."

It was almost as if Sam had read her mind. She thought she'd lapsed into professional mode but evidently she hadn't done it as well as she thought. "No, honestly, they'll be with us soon I'm sure" Cameron tried again to be the confident sounding Doctor she usually was. Without giving Sam a chance to reply she moved on "Anyway, as a game of "I SPY" isn't going to be very interesting, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? Got any family?"

Cameron hoped that Sam obliged and joined in with the conversation. It served two purposes - one, by keeping Sam talking Cameron could monitor how he sounded and, two, she hoped having a normal conversation in the most abnormal situation would help quell some of the fear Cameron was currently experiencing.

"OK" Sam replied wearily "Keep the patient alert and occupied. I can play that game too. Well, what can I tell you? I'm 29 years old, I'm married to Abby and we've got a little girl called Jess who's 10. I am, or I suppose, I used to be the site foreman of this twisted heap of crap. I also used to have my whole life ahead of me but now I'm not so sure." Sam's sentences came in short, breathless sentences. It was obviously getting more and more difficult for Sam to breathe and to Cameron's medically trained ears it was equally as obvious that he had a lung issue going on - probably punctured as a result of a broken rib or two.

"Hey!" Cameron snapped "You - _we_ - are going to be just fine. Stop saying those things. My ex-"pain in the ass" boss is up there sorting it out - trust me, people will be down here as quickly as they can just to get rid of that guy."

Cameron rolled her eyes to where the sky should have been and looked desperately for a tiny chink of daylight coming through the rubble or the sound of someone working over head. But nothing. "_Come on House - don't prove me wrong._"


	10. Chapter 10

_This chapter is dedicated to Holmsie for kicking me up the backside and giving me back the writing bug. Thank you!_

**Chapter 10**

Cameron persisted with her conversation with Sam. There was nothing else to do after all and she couldn't very well give up on her patient.

"Come on. Tell me about them. You and Abby must have been childhood sweethearts." Cameron asked. "_Be a good boy and help me stop from completely freaking out_" she thought silently to herself.

"Fine. Whatever. We were childhood sweethearts. I got her pregnant and we got married. End of story." Sam's reply had been terse despite his shortness of breath.

"You talk like it was a big mistake. Is that really how you feel?" Cameron tried to get the conversation going further. Trying the guilt trip approach worked.

"No, of course not! Who are you to say that? You don't know me and you never will!" Sam's voice was shaking now, not from his injuries or his predicament, but through anger at Cameron's comment.

"Hey, I'm not judging you. It was just a comment. I'm sorry we can change the subject if you like. I think a conversation about the weather is out of the question though." Cameron shifted slightly and pain once again ripped through her legs. She cried out again.

"You OK?" Sam's voice was full of genuine concern "Try not to move if you can."

"What, so I'm stupid now? " Cameron's reply left her lips before she could think about it and she instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry. I guess this is getting to both of us. I was trying to keep both of our minds off the situation by talking about other stuff that's all."

This seemed to spur Sam on. He waited a few seconds and started talking in a slower, gentler voice.

"We met at high school and we've been together ever since. It wasn't exactly planned. I guess we were young and stupid. Ending up being parents in out teens wasn't exactly on our agenda. I remember when Abby told me she was pregnant. At first I thought she playing some awful practical joke. I actually laughed out loud! Then she started to cry and I suddenly realised this was real. I went through so many emotions during those first few weeks. It was unfair, annoying, embarrassing and most of all, it felt like my life had ended before it had begun.

"I felt that right up until the moment Jess was born. I had looked at my new wife, heavily pregnant and felt, well, a kind of hatred I suppose if I'm honest. Why was this thing going to ruin my life? Ruin Jess' life? We hadn't asked for this. Plenty of other stupid teenagers did exactly what we had done and didn't end up with a brat on the way. I couldn't see then that it was our own fault, not being careful. This child hadn't asked to be created. That just shows how immature we actually were.

"All that changed when Jess arrived. As soon as they put her in my arms I was suddenly filled with regret. How could I have felt that way about this tiny, beautiful, amazing, innocent little person? She was, and still is, the image of Abby. She has the same eyes and hair. Even her attitude towards life in general is the same."

Cameron sat and listened to Sam intently. This is what she had brought to House's team. She was the "people person". She was the one who would call the dying patients father so they could make their peace, she was the one that would counsel the parents of a sick child, she was the human piece of the jigsaw that was House's team.

"We've never had much" Sam continued "but we've not really gone without either. Don't get me wrong, it's a struggle. Abby and me, we don't really see much of each other. I go out to work and Abby is at home. I come home, Abby goes out. We do it because that's what we owe our daughter. Jess is the most important person in both of our lives. We want her to have all of the life opportunities that we could never have. But on the other hand we want her to know that even if we could go back and do things differently, have a chance to choose a different path, we wouldn't. Is this making any sense or did I bang my head even worse that I thought?" Sam tried to chuckle but it just came out as a wheeze.

Cameron had listened to everything that Sam had said. "Sam, it makes perfect sense. I'm sure Jess, and Abby for that matter, knows all of this without you having to tell them."

"When you get out of here I want you to tell them about this conversation. I want you to tell them that given the chance I wouldn't have changed a thing. Tell Abby that as well. Tell them my last conversation in this world, my last thoughts, were of them." Sam's voice was getting hoarser as he spoke and his words started to tumble out as if he was worried he wouldn't get to the end of his monologue. Even without being able to see him Cameron was sure tears ran down his face.

"Hey" Cameron snapped "You'll be able to tell them yourself. Don't start this again!"

"Yeah well, just in case, I need you to know. That's me what about you? Married? Kids?" Sam's voice had relaxed again.

"Me? Married to the job I suppose. I was married once. Long story" Cameron replied.

"Well I think I've got 5 minutes to spare you."

Cameron laughed. "Yes I suppose you're right. We met in college, probably not much older than you and Abby. We hadn't been together long when he found out he had terminal cancer. There was nothing anyone could do. Not even out of college and he was going to die. A lot of those emotions you talked about were felt by me too. I was too young to be dealing with this. It was unfair that I'd finally met someone and they were being taken away from me already. In a way I hated him for doing this to me. How dare he put me in this position?"

Cameron paused, lost in the moment. Remembering the day he had told her of his illness. Remembering her reaction to the news. She had broken down and cried. He hadn't. He'd been supporting her for goodness sake!

"So what happened?" Sam's soft voice broke her reverie.

"I married him! Just weeks later I was burying my new husband and I was a widow. I couldn't leave him to go through this on his own. Sure, he had his family, his friends, but I was in love with him and he with me. That was a different kind of support that couldn't be offered by anyone else."

"Do you regret that decision?" Sam asked.

"Never. Like you, given the choice I would never change a moment. It has left me scarred though. I seem to be drawn to damaged people now, people I think I can fix. People are all too eager to point this out" _one person more than the others_ she thought silently to herself "It's not really the healthiest start to any sort of relationship. I am with a guy now. Work colleague actually so we can related on that level. There's no pressure about time spent together, or the lack of it. He understands the commitment the job expects of you. He knows you can't always be home making dinner for when he gets in."

"Do you love him?" The question hung in the air. Did she? Did she love Chase the way she knew, without question, he loved her?

Just then the radio crackled to life "Ground Control to Major Cam, are you receiving me? Over." House's voice was unmistakeable despite the crackle of the radio.

"Thank God" Cameron said to Sam "Give me a minute to deal with this guy."

"Sure" came the tired reply from Sam.

"House, tell me you're getting nearer. I asked for a sea view and I got a bum deal down here" Cameron spoke into the radio.

"Keep your wet t-shirt on. We're going as fast as we can up here you know. Just been off for a little tea break. Even minimum wagers are allowed their comfort breaks you know. Fascist. If you're not careful the union guys will be down here and you won't be out until next week."

"House, please. Just tell me what's going on" Cameron's voice was full of defeat. She couldn't put up with the banter any more, she just wanted the facts. This scared House as he knew only too well that when the fight within someone in Cameron's position was gone the situation went rapidly downhill.

"Sorry Cameron. They are working but you've just got to hang on in there. There's a lot of stuff to move up here but they are coming. Don't give up on me now." The radio crackled again.

"House?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you just apologise to me?" Cameron had picked up on that one word in the whole sentence.

"Exactly how hard did you hit your head? Does that really sound like something I would say? Per-lease Cameron" but House knew he had said the "S" word and Cameron had spotted it.

"That's alright then. If you're going to start apologising to me then I know things are getting really bad" Cameron replied.

"How you doing Cameron?" House wanted to change the subject – quickly.

She'd been so busy bantering with House and checking on Sam that she's somehow forgotten about herself. As soon as he asked her how she was she involuntarily started to shiver. "_Blood loss,_" she thought to herself "_it can't be an artery because I'd have bled out a long time ago. A slow bleed on the leg? Internal bleeding? Abdo seems fine,_" she even searched the area with her hands feeling for a problem. "_Like there would be anything I could do about it down here. Probably a slow bleed mixed in with a bit of shock._" She thought of herself in the third person, it sound like she was running a diagnostic on herself.

"And don't give me that 'I'm fine' crap." House had interrupted her train of thought.

"Not much to report. Pretty much the same really. I'm still bleeding from somewhere I think. I'm getting colder. My veins are shutting down." She looked at the back of her hand as she spoke. "Come see for yourself if you like."

"Is your t-shirt still wet? If not, I'll take a rain check thanks."

Just then a cloud of dust and debris showered down on Cameron and Sam. Both of them cried out at the same time but Cameron's cry, although weaker than she would ordinarily be, was much stronger than Sam. "HOUSE! What's going on up there? House? Answer me!"

"Easy Cameron. Your panties are bunching. It's just what you wanted. Looks like they're finally starting to move some of this crap out of the way is all."

House looked around him to check and sure enough some of the large debris from the top of the pile was being slowly shifted out of the way.

"Hey Doc! Move it will ya. We need to start shifting this stuff and you're gonna be going with it in a minute!" One of the firemen had bellowed at House.

"Moron" was the whispered reply from the Doc. Perhaps the Chief's little chat with him had toned his attitude down. He didn't feel up to another argument with the fire guys. He turned back to the radio. "Cameron? I've got to move down the stack a little. They are moving more stuff and unless you want Daddy squashed he's gotta move. That OK?"

"Yeah sure, but House?" came the shaky reply.

"Yes Cameron, Daddy's busy. Hurry up."

"Don't go too far."

As if he could leave her now. "Well there is a buy one get one free event at the cane store. I've had my eye on this cane with a very well endowed naked bunny girl up the side. Not sure Cuddy would allow it but hey, it'll show I'm down with the bro's."

"Please House." Cameron's voice pleaded with House.

He rolled his eyes slightly. "Chillax Cameron – I'm not going anywhere."

The radio went silent and Cameron closed her eyes and held the radio to her forehead as if willing it to burst into life. More dust floated through the air and made her cough. More pain as she jarred herself but not as bad as before. Was that because she was losing the feeling in her legs? Bizarrely she couldn't tell.

"Well Sam, looks like you're stuck with me for a while longer. Sounds like they're making progress though eh?" She tried for cheery but she wasn't sure it came off. There was no reply from Sam. "Sam?" She tried again. Still nothing.

Panic started to rise in her chest. "Sam, come on. Can you hear me?" She sounded more urgent. Still no reply.

Instinctively she turned round to see her patient. No yell or scream passed her lips this time. The noise caught in her throat and no noise came out.

What dim light that was available to her at that time dimmed even more. Some part of her brain told Cameron she was about to pass out. That same part of her brain told her that would be bad, very bad. "_You go out now; you're not waking up again. Fight it._" A voice rang in her head. It wasn't her voice. Definitely male. It made her focus just a little bit more.

As her consciousness rapidly ebbed away from her she tried to steady her breathing, taking big lungfuls of air in order to oxygenate her brain and keep her from falling into the dark. She determinedly fought for control of her own body. A body that was so badly letting her down right now.

"_Suck it up Cameron._" There was that voice again. It brought reality back a little closer. The stars that danced in front of her eyes started to disappear and the dizziness faded. She was coming back.

She sat there now, shivering even more than when she had spoken to House but also in a cold sweat at the same time. She sat there panting from the exertion.

"Sam?" she asked weakly "Please do not do this to me. Come on." She tried to raise her voice but failed miserably. She listened closely to find out what that sense could tell her as she couldn't actually she her patient. She thought she could hear a faint rasping breaths being taken but with the noise that was now coming from overhead she couldn't be sure.

"Please Sam. You have so much to live for. Don't give up on me now. Don't leave me on my own down here."

Panic had given way to an all consuming sadness. At first tears fell silently down her cheeks making tracks through the dust that covered her. Then great wracking sobs broke through her body. She sat and sobbed. She was going to die down there, of that she was now convinced. She had so much she hadn't done yet. Places she hadn't been, experiences she'd never had.

And then there were the people in her life. Did Chase really know how she felt about him? Hell, did she know how she felt about him? Her family – her Mom, Dad and brother – did they know? She hardly ever called, never wrote but she thought about them often, every day in fact. Did they know she loved them?

And then there was House. The added complication in all of this. She had so desperately wanted him to love her back in those early years of being on his team. She felt that she'd grown up in a way since those days. She thought she had been childish, looking for a father figure to look after her. She was over him, right? Really over him – wasn't she? She just wasn't sure. And now she would never have the time to find out.

"House?" she called lazily into the radio. "Are you there?"

Nothing but static.

"House? Please answer me." She felt her body giving in. Unbeknownst to her when she had turned to try and look at Sam she had torn her leg even more. Blood now freely flowed from the injury again. With the stress of Sam's decline and her realisation that her life was pretty certainly over her body was starting shut down.

A crackle came over the radio. "Cameron? Is that you? I can hardly hear you." House was right, Cameron could make out the words but it sounded as if he was a million miles away.

"House, I need you to tell my Mom and Dad that I love them..." her voice trailed off slightly, chocked by another sob.

"What? Cameron, you're not doing this. What happened?" To House the radio was fine. The reception was just as good as it was before he had been forced to move down the debris field.

"Sam's gone. You need to tell his wife and daughter..."

"I'm not telling them anything Cameron. **You're** gonna do that when you get out. Stop this Cameron. You are not going to die in there."

"House, you need to tell Chase ..."

"Oooooh no. No way. Messenger to the wombat? I don't think so. If you want to declare undying love for the blonde then you can do just that. Don't die and tell him yourself! Are you completely stupid?"

"I'm just so tired House. I don't think I can stay awake any more. I just want to go to sleep now."

"Now you sound like one of our dumb ass patients. Cameron, come on. Stay with me."

"I'm sorry House."

There was static from the radio. "Cameron. Come on I said."

Nothing. Silence.

"CAMERON!"

Nothing. Even more silence.


	11. Chapter 11

House started to clamber back up the debris "YOU!" he bellowed at the nearest fireman. "I need to get in there now!"

"We're nearly there actually if you'll just give us a little while .."

"No, now. Time's up people!"

The Chief was on his way over again. "I warned you. I told you to keep out of the way but you just couldn't help yourself. Down, now" the Chief demanded.

"I've lost her on the radio."

"What about the other guy?"

"I don't care about the other guy!" House roared.

The Chief made a move towards House. He was nearly nose to nose with him when there was a shout behind them "Over here! I think I see them!". The Chief turned instantly and flew up the pile. House was a little way behind, struggling over the terrain.

"I need two EMT's up here stat!" the Chief called.

House turned and could see there was no end of volunteers. They weren't going to beat him down there though. He was going down there and that was final.

Nurse Sarah had other ideas though. House hadn't even realised she'd left the site let alone made her way back here.

He was just taking, or rather attempting, a large step over some twisted scaffold when her hand grabbed his arm. "No House" she said quietly. "She needs you but not down there. You go down there and you're gonna stop them from getting her out. They need to move quickly and last time I looked you're not exactly Usain Bolt are you?"

"Get your hands off me otherwise you're going to become rather familiar with my cane in a very personal way." House bent down to stare into her eyes.

Sarah didn't waver. "You know I'm right about this. She needs you up here to check her over when they get her out."

"It's going to be too late by then. Don't you see? This isn't going to be some fairy tale ending. She's not going to come out without a hair out of place and just in need of a band aid."

"I know that. But you need to be here to fix this."

They continued to stare at each other. Each as stubborn as the other. Even Sarah was surprised when House backed down. He shrugged his arm free from her grasp.

"Fine." One word, that was the extent of his reply. Still, he turned his back and made a slower assent up the artificial hill of junk. Just as he turned he saw two EMT's lowering themselves into the hole. There was nothing he could do but wait.

It was almost as if Cuddy had a 6th sense as just at that precise moment his cell rang. He looked at the display and saw her number. He answered it and started to speak without waiting for an introduction. It could have been the Queen of England for all he cared.

"They've found her in the wreck. They've gone in now to get her out. I lost her on the radio just after she started to say her goodbyes. Not sure what they are gonna find down there." With that he simply hung up and waited.

_Meanwhile at PPTH ..._

Cuddy stood in her office with Chase, Foreman and Wilson. All of them just stood and stared at the phone and listened to the disconnected tone which rang out from the speakerphone. Chase was the first one to move. He turned and walked slowly out of the office.

No one followed him. They must have figured he needed some time. He walked through the now deserted clinic, shut down because of the mass of casualties in the ER. He stood at the glass doors that led out into the foyer.

Unlike the clinic it was heaving with people. It was being used as a makeshift triage area. The walking wounded, of which there were plenty, were having their wounds dressed and assessed by Doctors, Interns, nurses, basically any medical staff the hospital had to offer.

It should have been loud, the noise should have assaulted his ears. But it didn't. He stood there, disconnected from the world. The only sounds that echoed in his ears were the sound of his own slightly ragged breathing and the sound of his heart pounding in his chest.

They'd found her at last. But her condition was unknown. How badly was she injured? House had said she'd started to say her goodbyes. She was a fully trained ER Doctor. She would have known herself just how bad things had gotten. She would have known if it was time to say those goodbyes...

No. He wouldn't give up hope. Isn't that what he told of his patients?

Another noise then began to ring in his ears. The disconnected tone of House's phone after he had hung up. The thought of House being exactly where he wanted, no, _needed_ to be spurred him on. Anger pulsed through his veins now.

Chase could put up with House's abruptness with his patients. He'd even started to adopt his attitude to a certain extent over the last few months of his time on House's team. He'd started to see the patient as just a list of symptoms on a white board. Nameless. Sure, there had always been patients that had been different, that he'd connected with. But he'd seen Cameron at home crying privately over too many patients that she hadn't been able to help. This was happening more now that she was in the ER. Chase considered himself a happy medium between the two. Not as harsh as House but not as involved as Cameron.

But now, now it was someone he cared about, someone he loved, that was involved he instantly felt different. He regretted the harsh words he had spoken to patient and family alike, regretted those moments when his bedside manner had slipped. Suddenly the pain and suffering of those people was all too real.

The things he dealt with in the hospital, the injuries, the illnesses, they always happened to other people, right? No-one he cared about ended up as a patient surely?

In that moment the realisation dawned on him. Just because they were Doctors it didn't mean that they weren't just as susceptible to this stuff. They were just as fragile.

His feet moved automatically. He instinctively knew where he was going. He moved, silently it seemed to him, through the great mass of people.

Other medical personnel called out to him, asking for assistance. He was a senior member of the medical staff and his experience and skills were badly needed. His colleagues however were oblivious to the fact that one of the patients yet to arrive was his girlfriend. He moved on without realising they were calling to him.

He reached the stairs and climbed one floor up. The chapel lay just ahead of him.

_Back at the site ..._

House stood there watching and listening. Then he saw them – rising out the debris. First came one of the EMT's holding one end of a gurney. Then the rest of the gurney followed and there she was.

Even from his distant view point he could see she was deathly pale and obviously unconscious. Her arm fell from the side of the gurney and hung down like a lifeless doll. He could see she was smeared with blood, dirt and wet from whatever had soaked her.

House's heart skipped a few beats – well, more than a few actually. The logical part of his mind stopped to think why this should happen. This is a woman that you don't care about, why are you having such an emotional response? The non-logical, fly by the seat of your pants part of his brain was already hobbling across the twisted metal to get to Cameron as quickly as he could without falling and doing himself an injury.

They had been without radio contact for perhaps 10 minutes, 15 at the most. A lot could have happened in that time. House did not know if Cameron was alive or dead. '_They've got oxygen on her_' he said to himself '_no point wasting that on a corpse_'. But he had to see for himself.

He covered the distance faster than he gave himself credit for, dodging sharp metal points and splintered wood. He nearly lost his footing several times but kept going and managed to stay upright. His leg was screaming at him to stop but he ignored it.

As he closed in he could start to see the full extent of Cameron's physical appearance. She was, quite frankly, filthy – and not in a good way. Her long blonde hair was now matted and lank. Her face, usually as clean as porcelain, was now smudged and smeared. The blood instantly stood out. Her clothes were soaked through and clung to her lithe body like a second skin.

"Hey," House shouted once he was in earshot "what's her condition?" The EMT's ignored him. The second EMT was only just emerging from the hole in the rubble, moving quickly but deliberately to avoid aggravating any of Cameron's injuries. "I SAID" House exploded "what's her condition?"

The second EMT was facing him as he emerged into the daylight, blinking into the sunshine. "The casualty is unconscious and suffering from severe blood loss, severe leg trauma and unknown head injuries."

"What are her stats?"

"Haven't really had time to check properly – it's a real mess down there, not really the best environment to work in. It was kind of a scoop and run job."

"You idiots!" House bellowed "Are you even trained? You could have done God knows what damage. Set the gurney down." House wanted to check for himself.

"Sir, we really gotta get her in the ambulance and back to Princeton, we haven't got time .."

"Set the God damned gurney down now. If you know of me you know I'm good at this. Now let me look at her" House's already ice blue eyes turned a few shades cooler. His tone of voice left the EMT's in little doubt that they had to do what he said so they gently laid the gurney down.

House's trained eyes ran speedily over Cameron's body. He started at the top – the body wasn't much good without the brain. A cursory glance at Cameron's head was enough to tell House that the serious damage lay elsewhere. Cameron had complained of being nauseous and dizzy which could have indicated head trauma but he didn't exactly have a portable CT scanner with him at the moment. House concentrated on things he could do something about here and now – everything else would have to wait until they were back at the hospital.

Anyway, somehow he couldn't bring himself to look at Cameron's face. He was well known for the fact that he never got to know his patients. He had cured 100's but could probably count the number of names of those patients he remembered on one hand. If he didn't know them, didn't care about them, there was nothing stopping him trying his next insane treatment on them. He wouldn't be the one grieving if things didn't work out, he'd just move on to the next John Doe that got his symptoms written up on the white board in his office.

But this was different. This was Cameron. He knew this woman, had worked with her, hell, he had even been on a couple of dates with her – '_if that's what you could call them_' he thought to himself.

His eyes briefly flicked over her face, most of which was covered by the oxygen mask, and quickly moved on. His eyes searched on – her upper body seemed pretty much unscathed. The arms of her boiler suit were ripped and torn and there were some pretty nasty looking scrapes and gashes but nothing too serious. Cameron was wet through but some of that had dried in places, probably due to the heat below.

Then he saw what he had been looking for. Cameron's left leg was, what he could only describe as, busted open. A slight breath caught in House's throat as he saw the metal sticking through Cameron's left calf. The EMT's had left it in place – it would only be removed back at the hospital and probably in an OR. They had padded it as best they could but blood was now seeping through the bandages they had placed around this foreign object – Cameron's blood. By the way Cameron's ankle hung at a grotesque angle, it was quite clearly broken.

"Hey" one of the EMT's said impatiently "we gotta go! What you waiting for?"

House hadn't realised it but he had stopped momentarily, mesmerized by the damage caused by this freak accident. '_Now you're the damaged one_' he thought to himself. Brought back to his senses he dropped to one knee as best he could and examined the injury in more depth. It was a mess – plain and simple. There was nothing he could do here apart from check that there was a pulse in the foot – which there was – and speed Cameron away, back to the ER department that she ran.

"Go" was all House could manage. The EMT's lifted Cameron on the gurney and started to head down the metal mountain. House struggled to keep up – his bum leg holding him back. Slipping and sliding he tried to keep up with the EMT's but they were leaving him behind. He desperately wanted, needed, to go in the ambulance and make sure she arrived as safely as she could but whereas the EMT's were almost at the bottom of the pile (and being greeted by whoops and cheers from the rest of the rescue squad), House was still only about half way down.

"Hey!" he shouted, hoping the EMT's would hear him and slow up but he was drowned out by the celebration of the fact that someone had been pulled out alive. His cane missed the spot he was aimed for and he fell awkwardly, crying out in pain from his own leg which now burned brightly with pain. He struggled to his feet just in time to see Cameron being bundled into the back of the ambulance. The doors were slammed shut and then she was gone.

House stood there and watched as the ambulance sped away from the building site with its sirens blaring. He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and dialled an all too familiar number.

"House?" came Cuddy's voice at the other end.

"She's on her way back now – be about 10 minutes. Get ready for her" House said coolly.

"What? How is she? Are you with .." Cuddy started to say before she was cut off by the abrupt end to the call.

House stowed his phone in his pocket and started to climb down the rest of the scaffolding that was now only home to Sam and, unbeknownst to House, there wasn't such a rush to get him out. He ignored the ring tone of his cell – why the hell did he have Hanson anyway? – he knew it would be Cuddy, or worse Chase, seeking further information.

Right now, he just didn't know what to tell them.

_Cuddy's Office ..._

Cuddy stared at her office phone in disbelief. House was still being a jerk? Even now when this involved one of their own? She instantly pressed re-dial but there was no answer.

At that moment Wilson walked back into the office. He had walked out after Chase but had seen him lost in his own thoughts and thought better of interrupting them. He saw the look on Cuddy's face. "Only House can bring that face out" he said to Cuddy as he walked through her glass office doors "what's the news?"

"Your best friend's a complete jerk is the news!" Foreman replied.

"OK. So what's the new news?" Wilson replied.

"House called, said Cameron was on the way back and we should get ready. Then he hung up!" Cuddy raised her hands to the sky by way of emphasis "I've tried calling back but he's ignoring his phone. He didn't even say whether she was alive or dead."

Just at that moment – at exactly the wrong moment – Chase walked in. He heard the end of Cuddy's last sentence and the word 'dead' seemed to hang in midair.

Chase stopped where he was, his jaw dropped slightly.


End file.
